Mini-grid

Photograph of a solar mini-grid in a green forest serving a rural village taken from a drone
A solar mini-grid in Bayelsa, Nigeria operated by Renewvia[1]

A mini-grid is an aggregation of electrical loads and one or more energy sources operating as a single system providing electricity and possibly heat, isolated from a main power grid. A modern mini-grid may include renewable- and fossil fuel-based power generation, energy storage, and load control.[2][3] A mini grid can be fully isolated from the main grid (wide area synchronous grid) or interconnected to it. If it is interconnected to the main grid, it must also be able to isolate (“island”) from the main grid and continue to serve its customers while operating in an island or autonomous mode.[4] Mini-grids are used as a cost-effective solution for electrifying rural communities where a grid connection is challenging in terms of transmission and cost for the end user population density,[5] with mini-grids often used to electrify rural communities of a hundred or more households that are 10 km or more from the main grid.[6]

Mini grids and microgrids are similar, and the terms are sometimes used as synonyms. Both microgrids and mini grids include generation and distribution, and generally include electricity storage in the form of electrochemical batteries. Both can “island” in the event of a blackout or other disturbance or – common in mini grids – in the case that they were never connected to the main grid in the first place. In practice, the term “mini grid” is used more in a context common in low- and middle-income countries providing electricity to communities that were previously unelectrified, or sometimes used to provide reliable electricity in areas in which the national grid is present but where electricity is sporadic. Across Sub-Saharan Africa, more than half of households connected to the main grid reported receiving electricity less than half of the time.[7] The African Mini Grid Developers Association (AMDA) reports that uptimes of mini grids of its members for which data was available averaged 99% across countries.[8] In contrast, the term “microgrid” is used more in higher income countries to refer to systems that provide very high levels of reliability (for example, “five nines” or 99.999%) for critical loads like data centers, hospitals, corporate campuses or military bases generally in service areas that already have high levels of reliability (e.g. “three nines” or 99.9% reliability) by global standards.[9][10]

  1. ^ Carabajal, Amy; Orsot, Akoua; Elimbi Moudio, Marie Pelagie; Haggai, Tracy; Okonkwo, Chioma Joy; Jarrard, George Truett; Selby, Nicholas Stearns (5 June 2024). "Social and Economic Impact Analysis of Solar Mini-Grids in Rural Africa: a Cohort Study from Kenya and Nigeria". Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability. 4 (2): 025005. arXiv:2401.02445. Bibcode:2024ERIS....4b5005C. doi:10.1088/2634-4505/ad4ffb. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  2. ^ Baring-Gould, Ian; Burman, Kari; Singh, Mohit; Esterly, Sean; Mutiso, Rose; McGregor, Caroline (2016). Quality Assurance Framework for Mini-Grids (PDF). NREL and US DOE. p. 1.
  3. ^ jjaeger (2016-04-06). "Off-Grid Electricity Systems". The Alliance for Rural Electrification (ARE). Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  4. ^ "Mini Grids for Half a Billion People: Market Outlook and Handbook for Decision Makers | ESMAP". www.esmap.org. Retrieved 2022-10-21. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 IGO (CC BY 3.0 IGO) license.
  5. ^ "Clean Energy Mini-grids | Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL)". www.seforall.org. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  6. ^ "Interactive Webmap for electrification planning in Nigeria". nigeriase4all.gov.ng. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  7. ^ Blimpo, Moussa P. (2019). Electricity access in Sub-Saharan Africa : uptake, reliability, and complementary factors for economic impact. Mac Cosgrove-Davies, Agence française de développement. Washington, DC: The World Bank. ISBN 978-1-4648-1377-1. OCLC 1089800181.
  8. ^ Chikumbanje, Madalitso; Frame, Damien; Galloway, Stuart (August 2020). "Enhancing Electricity Network Efficiency in sub-Saharan Africa through Optimal Integration of Minigrids and the Main Grid". 2020 IEEE PES/IAS PowerAfrica (PDF). pp. 1–5. doi:10.1109/PowerAfrica49420.2020.9219976. ISBN 978-1-7281-6746-6. S2CID 222420220.
  9. ^ "A Big Boost for Microgrids: Reliability, Resilience and Favorable Economics | American Public Power Association". www.publicpower.org. Retrieved 2022-10-21.
  10. ^ Egan, John (September 22, 2021). "Microgrid and BESS Interest Growing Across North America". www.energytech.com. Retrieved 2022-10-21.